TOWN councillor Vanessa Fiorelli has criticised a circus for refusing to clear up their posters left behind across Melksham, claiming they have ‘zero respect’ for the town.
Cllr Fiorelli contacted Uncle Sam’s Great American Circus on Facebook after their departure on 10th June to ask them to take down the posters, but the circus refused. The circus even went as far as sending the disgruntled councillor the ‘thumbs-up’ emoji when she threatened to report them to Wiltshire Council.
“It’s completely disrespectful,” said cllr Fiorelli. “They’ve come in, they’ve asked the people of Melksham for their support – now come and clean up after the party, that’s all they need to do. So now, because of their response it has gone to Wiltshire Council who are investigating it – they (Wiltshire Council) have had problems in the past with other circuses doing the same thing (fly-posting), and they have taken action and enforced against them. So I don’t think that these people quite realise that putting posters up in public places could result in a potential £2,500 fine.
“I just think, come on, respect Melksham, don’t mess up the place. Now myself and the Melksham in Bloom team will have to go around and clean this up as we have judging coming up for Britain in Bloom. But why should someone else have to clean up after them?
“It is now up to Wiltshire Council to enforce this – if it was something that Melksham Town Council could enforce, then we would have done it straightaway.”
Melksham News approached Wiltshire Council for an update on what they plan to do next about the complaint against Uncle Sam’s Great American Circus. A spokesperson said, “We take the display of unauthorised flyposting seriously, we have received concerns of this taking place in Melksham and we are investigating.”
Uncle Sam’s Great American Circus has been approached twice by Melksham News for comment, but no response has been received.
